Ár Ré presidential primary, 4364
Ár Ré held a presidential primary in 4364. The primary was automatically triggered when the incumbent presidential candidate, Tanaka Tsukoda, withdrew his candidacy for the Presidency. The election was contested between Ruth Williams, the party's Deputy Leader and the Minister for Health and Social Services, and James Maclaren, a backbencher. In a surprising result, Maclaren won against Williams with 50.04% of the vote. A margin of 45 votes separated the two candidates. A total of 60,837 votes were cast. To date, this remains the closest election of any kind fought in the party's history. Background In July 4363, a new cabinet proposal was introduced to replace Píoráidí , who had vacated their seats during the middle of the cabinet's tenure, with a new party: 50PLUS. Although Ár Ré would not see any change of cabinet positions, incumbent Leader and Prime Minister Gordon McGuinness expressed his desire to retire and hand over to a "suitable successor". Leadership elections were called in July 4363, days after the cabinet proposal was introduced, which saw Tanaka Tsukoda, the Deputy Leader and incumbent presidential candidate win against Ruth Williams, the Minister for Health and Social Services. He appointed Williams to be the party's Deputy Leader. However, 50PLUS did not vote on the proposal. By the deadline in December, the proposal did not receive the required parliamentary support to pass, thus the cabinet remained as was. This led to the uncomfortable situation whereby the Ár Ré Prime Minister was different from the Ár Ré Leader. Tsukoda insisted that he will seek a new Cabinet without the support of 50PLUS. The party would then introduce a cabinet proposal after the conclusion of the July 4364 elections. Expecting to be sworn in as Prime Minister, Tsukoda withdrew his candidacy for the Presidency, triggering a fresh presidential primary. Procedure The last revision for the presidential primary was in 4350 and no significant changes have been made then. Those seeking to join the presidential primary must be members of Ár Ré, and pay a fixed deposit. Signatories for their candidacy are optional. In the event that more than six candidates participate in the primary, all but six candidates in the first round will be eliminated. Candidates Two candidates nominated themselves for the presidential primary. Williams, widely considered to be the party's next presidential candidate and Leader, announced her candidacy on January 8, with the backing of the majority of the Cabinet and parliamentary party. Several others put themselves up for contention in the primary. Giuseppe Giovanni, a prominent Cabinet member, considered running for the primary but decided against it - he endorsed Williams. Several backbenchers discontent with the slow pace of coalition negotiation talks also expressed their desire to run. Eventually, James Maclaren, a member of the General Assembly representing the province of Nuchtmark, nominated himself on January 18, ten days after Williams' nomination. Initially, more nominations were expected, but by the close of nominations, only Williams and Maclaren remained. Results Shock win The result was considered to be a shock by most of the party establishment, who expected to see Williams win handily. Instead, events affected the primary campaign, and gave Maclaren the momentum to win against Williams. Coalition talks between Tsukoda and the other parties were not progressing as well as expected. In particular, a notable subset of the party, made up primarily of sovereigntists and nationalists, were unhappy that Tsukoda was acquiescing to demands of its coalition partners regarding foreign policy and international relations. This subset wanted Ár Ré to hold the Foreign Ministry. Maclaren capitalised on this discontent - much of his election theme focused on "reclaiming sovereignty". In addition, Williams was linked to closely to Tsukoda and the "party establishment". Unhappiness leveled at Tsukoda manifested into protest votes for Maclaren, whose constant disavowals made him a prime candidate for the disengaged.